Abstract
On the basis of generalized 6j-symbols we give a formulation of topological quantum field theories for 3-manifolds including observables in the form of coloured graphs. It is shown that the 6j-symbols associated with deformations of the classical groups at primitive even roots of unity provide examples of this construction. Calculational methods are developed which, in particular, yield the dimensions of the state spaces as well as a rather simple proof of the relation, previously found by Turaev and Walker for the case ofU q (sl(2,C)), between these models and corresponding ones based on the ribbon graph construction of Reshetikhin and Turaev.
Beliakova, A